Laminate flooring guide: Information on everything from installation to maintenance | CHRONOTEX (2023)

FAQs

What to do after installing laminate flooring? ›

Before you use your new floor or move into the room, make sure the floor is completely cured. Do not walk on the floor for 24 hours after installation. If you do, it will damage the installation, resulting in an uneven floor.

Any new laminate floor product, including Swiss Krono, needs to sit in your house for at least 48 hours in the room it will be installed in order to acclimate or to become accustomed to a new climate or conditions.

Prep the Surface

Begin by removing the shoe molding and baseboards. Then, make sure the floor is clean and level — installing over an uneven floor can lead to soft, spongy areas and may contribute to seams opening up and further damage to the laminate. Tolerances are usually 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch measured over 10 feet.

Regular cleaning laminate floor prevents it from getting scratched but it's not advisable to use harsh cleansers as they can create damage to the floor. Using a dry mop can be done on a regular basis. For more intense cleaning, warm water or mild cleansers can be used.

To reduce the amount of movement it is essential to acclimate a laminate floor immediately before installation. The normal period is 48hrs within the room of installation, before beginning to lay the floor.

It is possible to fix the issue of laminate flooring swelling or fading and losing some of its luster over time. However, the greatest solution to this problem is to find a means to avoid it occurring in the first place or to ensure that it does not occur again once repairs have been made.

Buckling occurs when laminate flooring does not have enough space to contract and expand with temperature changes. Since it is a floating floor, the planks tend to contract when it is cool and expand when it is warm. Therefore it is crucial to take precautions to prevent buckling.

Expansion gaps are essential in all laminate floor installations. Temperature and humidity will change in all rooms. This result is the laminate flooring will expanding and contract as the temperature and humidity change. It's the same with solid and engineered wood floors.

Laminate panels should be aligned parallel to the window or the primary light source. This direction of laying laminate makes rooms appear larger and longer. In addition, the parallel incidence of light brings out the grain of the laminate flooring particularly well.

What happens if you don t leave a gap for laminate flooring? ›

When you don't have the proper expansion gap, the pressure caused by the natural expansion of the floor will need to go somewhere. This causes the floor to buckle and often leads to irreversible damage that calls for plank replacement.

Buckling or warping is almost always as a result of moisture and/or water damage. Laminate flooring is affected by water in a number of ways. High moisture content in the air can sometimes lead to buckling or warping. Excessive water on the surface of the floor can also lead to buckling or warping.

Good-quality laminate floorboards should lock together seamlessly and create a flat surface – if the edges seem rough or uneven it may cause installation issues, so look for a precision-machined edge. Take a close look at how thick the laminate is.

Place the first plank with the tongue side towards the wall, being sure to allow 1/8" for expansion. We recommend cutting off the tongue on this first row to avoid any problem with the expansion gap.

Perhaps the most important thing to consider first is where you will lay your laminate flooring. Laminates are constructed using three principal layers: the decorative layer, the core, and the backing layer.

Can you use a wet Swiffer on laminate floors? Yes, you can use a wet Swiffer or Swiffer WetJet on laminate floors.

Because laminate flooring is sensitive to excess moisture, it should only be damp cleaned, making Clorox^® Scentiva Disinfecting Mopping Cloths the ideal choice for routine or deep cleaning.

The best way to clean laminate floors is to use products made especially for them. If you don't have laminate floor cleaner, you can use a teaspoon of unscented clear dish soap in a gallon of water. A teaspoon of baby shampoo in a gallon of water will also work.

Since it is a floating floor, the planks tend to contract when it is cool and expand when it is warm. Therefore it is crucial to take precautions to prevent buckling.

Slide a laminate flooring spacer between the wall and the short edge of the panel. This spacer creates the expansion space needed for the panel to expand and contract with the varying temperatures. In addition, it holds the laminate panel in place during installation to stop movement.

How long does it take for laminate flooring to expand? ›

Laminate flooring isn't exactly wood, but it's made of a wood byproduct, and it undergoes expansion and contraction with fluctuating humidity. It therefore needs a period of acclimation in the installation space, or the boards may buckle. Most manufacturers recommend an acclimation period of two to three days.

Extra Padding Poses a Risk

By adding unnecessary cushioning, you could actually be causing more harm to your floor than good. The added friction could cause the underlayment to wear down quickly and make your floors less stable over time, causing stress on the floating floor's locking system joints.

The water will damage laminate flooring by soaking into the layers. Once inside the boards, it causes them to swell and warp. It also weakens the glue that holds them together and they can eventually fall apart.

Whether laminate will increase or decrease a home's value will also depend on what flooring was there before. If the laminate replaces old, worn carpet or sheet vinyl, you could see a value boost.

Laminate flooring will snap and pop as you walk on it if it's bridging across hollow spots under the flooring. Your weight stresses the interlocking tongues and grooves in the flooring, causing the noise. It's nearly impossible to stop this noise after a laminate floor is installed.

Minimal buckling can even be repaired by just placing a heavy weight on the buckled area and forcing it to settle back into its space. You also need to ensure that area that is buckled is dry and have any excess moisture removed.

Foam backer rod helps to fill the empty space in the room perimeter expansion gap and reduces the amount of 100% flexible silicone sealant needed during installation. It also helps to ensure the silicone sealant stays towards the surface to properly span the gap between the top of the HydroShield floor and the wall.

Skirting boards, also known as decorative timber, are required with every laminate installation to cover the mandatory 10mm expansion gap around the room.

Either run the baseboard flush against the total height of all the materials or add 1/16'' – 1/8'' to the total height and consider using quarter round (shoe molding). To help installation, use wood blocks of the same thickness of your new floor.

Do you need transition strips between rooms? ›

Why Do I Need to Use Transition Strips? Transition strips serve two main purposes in a residential or commercial space. First, they're put in place to make navigating from room to room easier. They also provide a visual break between rooms and flooring materials that might otherwise be jarring and less than attractive.

3) Parallel or diagonal flooring

Believe it or not, the way flooring is installed can help make a room look bigger than it is. As a general trick of the trade, installing flooring such as boards running parallel to the longest wall in the room instantly makes a room appear more spacious.

The most common way to lay hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists, this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it aesthetically provides the best result.

It also gives the flooring added stability. The seams should be staggered at least 12 inches from any adjacent seam. Hold the long side of the second-row plank at an angle and feed the tongue into the groove of the installed row. Press down and snap the plank into place.

You should leave a 10mm gap between the laminate flooring and the walls on all sides. The same applies to other solid objects such as doorframes, heating pipes, stoves and radiators that are flush with the floor and furniture.

Laminate floors can scratch, so steer clear of anything abrasive (steel wool, for example). You'll want to use a soft-bristle broom or dust mop to sweep up debris. If you're vacuuming, be careful to use an attachment without a beater bar or rotating brush, which could scratch the surface.

Pry up the boards, starting at the wall, until you get to the damaged ones. Replace them, one by one, as needed. Snap the new board into place by putting the tongue into the groove of the existing, undamaged board. Finish the repair by using finishing nails to put the molding or baseboards back into place.

Light Wood Flooring

It also makes rooms feel larger, which complements the open floor layouts that are popular today. Whitewash and Gray laminate flooring continue to dominate in 2021! The lighter colors allow darker colors to stand out in a design.

AC5 Laminate Flooring - This is close to the highest durability level and covers commercial areas that have a high level of footfall e.g. Restaurants, retail spaces, busy offices etc.

Thicker laminate flooring doesn't mean it's more durable. It will, however, be more resistant to warping and other conditions. A thickness of 8 to 12 mm is one of the most advised thickness levels for laminate flooring.

What is the best tool to cut laminate flooring? ›

What's the best saw for laminate flooring? Handsaw, jigsaw, crosscut saw (also called a plunge saw). For simple straight cuts, you can easily use a handsaw to cut laminate flooring if that's all you have, but for the most professional finish, you should choose a crosscut saw or table saw.

We recommend starting in the left corner of the longest wall in the room and to install the planks in the same direction as the main light source (e.g. the main window). Planks are always installed from left to right.

Underlayment, or “padding” as it's often called, is the spongy, closed-cell plastic foam sheet that comes in rolls. It is rolled out between the actual laminate flooring planks and the subfloor.

There isn't any need to open the boxes or remove the materials, but you can if you want. Also, don't stack them along the edges of the room. To prepare your new flooring for installation, it's important to leave it in the environment where it will be installed for at least 48 hours, and up to 72 hours for acclimation.

We therefore recommend cutting from the back of the sheet (far from you) to the front (towards you), with the laminated side down, to avoid chipping the laminate. If you are installing your sheet as a countertop or on top of other furniture, leave the curves and the corners out.

Tips on How to Cut Laminate Flooring

Always make your cuts with the finished side of the flooring facing up. This will help prevent chipping on the face of your flooring.

The fall months are the ideal time! Some new flooring materials such as laminates, hardwoods, and luxury vinyl tiles will need to acclimate a day or two inside the home before being laid.

The moisture causes the wooden core in the laminate boards to swell, and this can cause the laminate flooring to bubble and lift. It's best practice to look after your laminate flooring by only using slightly damp or dry mops or cloths to clean it.

In order to keep the floor straight and square, start laying the laminate away from the wall because the wall may not be straight. Measure away from the wall the width of one piece of flooring and add 1/4 inch (for example, if flooring is 5 inches wide, measure out 5 1/4 inches) and snap a chalk line across the room.

Which side is the tongue, which the groove, and which goes first during installation? The tongue is the side that you will want to place against the wall as you start your laminate-flooring installation.